Welcome to the Ullapool News

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SCOTTISH WILDLIFE TRUST   Scotland’s red squirrel celebration

Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is running eighth annual Great Scottish Squirrels this week, and everyone can get involved from 5 – 11 October, with the aim of counting as many red squirrels as possible.  Last year over 1,500 squirrels were recorded.

Squirrels spotted anywhere in the country, from back gardens and busy urban areas, to the more remote parts of Scotland, can be reported to SSRS via https://scottishsquirrels.org.uk/squirrel-sightings/

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IT’S BEEN WET —— 2026  – September Rainfall – 179.5mm

2025 was only 90.5mm.  Monthly average for Sept 123.2mm

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Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme

Charity Advice Direct Scotland has managed this fund on behalf of the Scottish Government since it opened on 1 April. Vulnerable families who have oil or LiquefiedPetroleum Gas (LPG) heating can get £300 towards their energy bills. The scheme was due to end on 30 September, but was recently extended into the winter months while heating oil and LPG prices continue to be volatile.

People on the following benefits should qualify: Universal Credit, Scottish Child Payment, Housing Benefit, IncomeSupport, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-based Employment and Support Allowance, and PensionCredit. Those in financial hardship who are at risk of cutting back on heat due to rising costs, and who are classed as vulnerable, may also qualify for the scheme.

Applications can be made via homeheatingadvice.scot, by calling 0800 048 7413, or by sending a form in the post.

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Apology

Thank you Iain and Shona for correcting the error in last week’s issue.  We were keen to get such a momentous and upsetting occurrence into the Ullapool News and in the absence of information being sent directly from the Coigach community and with our Tuesday deadline approaching when we heard the news we made use of Facebook!

This week letter from Coigach (abridged)

Dear Editor,

The Coigach community and members of CoigachHeritage far and wide were dealt a dreadful blow in the early hours of Monday 28th September when the old Achiltibuie Drill Hall was burnt to the ground.
Built in 1915, the building has played its part in Coigach life for generations, from training our men to go off to fight in WW1 to being our village hall for years to its latest rolehousing Coigach Heritage and the Coigach Kitchen restaurant. …..

Back in the 1970s, some of us were lucky enough to see 7:84’s performance of ‘The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil’ there which included a telling of Coigach’s historic Clearance resistance which we now celebrate through our landscape memorial, Lorg na Coigich, unveiled in July.

The hall was built by the Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association and bought from them in 1959 through community fundraising. A trust was set up to manage the building on behalf of the people of Coigach at that time. ….
Coigach Heritage’s project to display heritage items had barely commenced when the fire struck, and though we have lost some of our archives and other material, much is safely stored elsewhere.

We would like to thank all those who have sent messages of support to Coigach Heritage and to the fire service for their efforts in containing the blaze.

It needs to be made clear that despite what was reported in last week’s Ullapool News, Scottish Wildlife Trust had no involvement with the hall and had no office or archives there.

Iain Muir,  Chair, Coigach Heritage SCIO

A devastating fire has destroyed the Old Drill Hall in Achiltibuie. The fire broke at in the early hours of Monday 28 September and the hall’s wooden structure was completely lost with only the stonework of a side extension left standing.

The Hall was originally built in 1914 when the Countess of Cromarty granted permission to the Territorial Force Association to construct a drill hall. Ownership of the building was taken over by the community in 1959 for use as a village hall and it fulfilled that role for 40 years until the Coigach Community Hall opened its doors on a neighbouring plot.

Prior to the blaze the hall was being used by the Coigach Kitchen, a café and restaurant which was very popular with residents and visitors alike. It also housed the offices of the Scottish Wildlife Trust who have lost archives and equipment. Fire engines from Ullapool and Lairg attended the fire.

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Yet another anniversary this year….!

Fèis Rois 40th Anniversary celebrated in Parliament.  Kristopher Leask, Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands has marked the 40th anniversary of Ross-Shire based arts organisation Fèis Rois with a motion in the Scottish Parliament.

The organisation was established in 1986 and has grown to become a nationally-recognised leader in traditional music education, enabling people of all ages to participate in and experience traditional music and the Gaelic language across Ross-Shire and beyond.

**So many of the children and young adults living in our area have benefitted from this organisation over the years, with its annual week long stays for different age groups or through individual tutoring of a range of instruments.**

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An award-winning chef has returned to the campus on which he began his culinary career to share his skills with the next generation of aspiring chef. Fin MacDonald, Sous Chef at the Michelin-recommended Dipping Lugger in Ullapool, visited UHI North, West and Hebrides’ Dornoch campus to give Professional Cookery students a live cooking demonstration.

Fin, who recently won a Rising Star Award at the National Restaurant Awards, which celebrates emerging talent across the UK’s restaurants, prepared steamed halibut in mussel stock with a herby mousse, giving students the chance to see his techniques up close and taste the finished dish. The session also gave students the opportunity to ask Fin about his career and hear how his time at the college helped set him on the path to working in some of the UK’s leading kitchens.

During his studies, Fin gained experience at Skibo Castle and Glenmorangie house and, after graduating, took up a role at the iconic Michelin-starred Ritz restaurant in London. He later returned to the Highlands to join The Dipping Lugger, Ullapool.